This invention relates to a trap for the harvesting of marine crustacea which also incorporates a trap for octopi and like cephalopods.
Octopi and other cephalopods are predators of lobsters and other crustacea, and in many areas the octopi attack the lobsters after they have been caught in sea bed traps, commonly referred to as pots. Having regard to the different characteristics of lobsters and octopi, the latter may readily escape from pots after having damaged the lobsters therein to a degree to render them nonsaleable in a commercial manner.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to construct a pot or trap for lobsters in a manner to permit the entry of the lobsters but prevent entry of octopi. However, lobsters are timid and wary of openings which require forced entry, due in part to the rigid properties of the lobster shell, while octopi are quite aggressive and will force entry into restricted areas where food is located. The octopus is also a boneless creature and, accordingly, its body can be substantially altered in shape to facilitate passage through restricted areas.
Also there is a substantial market for octopi and it would be commercially attractive to make use of the attraction of octopi to trapped lobsters as a lure for also trapping octopi.
It is therefore the object of the present invention to provide a trap which is suitable for trapping both octopi and other like cephalopods and also marine crustacea wherein the attraction of the octopi to marine crustacea may be used as a lure for the trapping of the octopi and other like cephalopods.